Shadows

Have you ever noticed that your shadow changes size? Sometimes it’s long and stretched out. At other times, it’s short or hardly there at all. What causes this?

Fun Facts

The sun makes long shadows in the morning and late afternoon when it’s sitting low in the sky. At noon, when it’s directly above you, your shadow is short – or nonexistent. Try recreating this with a lamp or flashlight. Hold the lamp so it sits at the same level as an object. What does the object’s shadow look like? Now move the lamp over the object. How does the shadow change?

A shadow happens when an object blocks the path of light. The object must be translucent or opaque. A clear, transparent object won’t make a shadow, but the light will pass through it.

The closer an object is to the light source, the larger the shadow will be. The farther away the object is from the light source, the smaller it will be.

Try experimenting with light and shadow. Shine a light on translucent objects. The shadow created will be light or might even be colored. Try tracing a shadow onto paper. For example, you can capture a tree’s shadow on the side of a building by taping a piece of paper to the building and tracing the shadow. Use your hands to make shadows on a wall or learn how to make shadow puppets.